After my brief time hanging around these slightly disturbing quarters of one of the five food groups (hey, I had to see it to believe it!), you have no idea how much I was looking forward to getting back to Forwood-y fuzzy goodness.

First though, I detoxed by going to the Captain Cardboard the Tool thread at TV Fanatic, a gem of a forum where people do things like ship Matt/Bankruptcy and consider his best possible plot development to be becoming Mystic Falls’ answer to South Park’s Kenny who was killed off at least once an episode before being revived, since it is unlikely Julie and Kevin will kill one of the few remaining humans off. In the very least, we should get the entertainment of his oft-repeated, gruesome death😉 *evil*

SPOILERS BELOW!

Anyway, back to Forwood and unicorns. Let’s hug it out, guys!

The spoiler well has dried up a little of late, which is surprising given that we’ve been salivating enough to power Niagra Falls for a millennia in the wake of the .0001 second Tyler/Caroline promo snippet that has had TC fandom going crazy.

CWTV are still holding out on an extended promo, but they HAVE released episode descriptions for 3×01 and 3×02 to whet our appetites with:

IT’S MY PARTY – On the morning of Elena’s (Nina Dobrev) 18th birthday, Caroline (Candice Accola) is busy planning a party, but Elena is focused on searching for any clues that might help her discover where Stefan (Paul Wesley) is. Damon (Ian Somerhalder) is also searching for Stefan, while trying to protect Elena and keep her from doing anything that would draw Klaus’ (Joseph Morgan) attention. Meanwhile, Klaus and Stefan are busy trailing a werewolf named Ray Sutton (guest star David Gallagher, “Super 8”). Now working at the Mystic Grill along with Matt (Zach Roerig), Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) is struggling to understand why he keeps seeing the ghosts of Vicki (guest star Kayla Ewell) and Anna (guest star Malese Jow) since he was brought back to life by Bonnie’s (Kat Graham) magic. Meanwhile, Alaric (Matt Davis) does his best to watch over Elena and Jeremy, while dealing with his grief over Jenna’s death. Finally, Caroline and Tyler (Michael Trevino) face a new and unexpected challenge. John Behring directed the episode written by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec (#301).

Let’s recap some of the stuff that we already know!

Caroline’s basically gonna be all, “Yo shorty, it’s your birthday, we’re gonna party like it’s your birthday” and will attempt to cheer Elena out of her funk through sheer force of will. We all need a Caroline in our lives to give us a well-meaning and begrudgingly received but ultimately worthwhile push, dontcha think?

Tyler’s been having this song running through his head lately:

(I’ve been sitting on this song for my Got Forwood season premiere recap, but I couldn’t hold out any longer)

Matt will take time out of singing THIS tune…

… to realise he wants Caroline back because seeing Tyler with Urges Girl has made her feel feeeeelllllllings.

Let’s try to work out how these episode descriptions fit in within this context. A new and unexpected challenge? Any bright ideas, Forwood Unicorn lovers?

Alyssa, because she is a positive bunny, thinks it refers purely to Tyler/Caroline grappling with their new and confusing relationship that has just exploded out of the friendship zone.

I have no doubt this development will play a major role in the episode, no matter what.

But, putting myself into the headspace of the promo monkeys, I wonder if the challenge might not necessarily be related to naked action. I mean, their attraction has been well established (even though Caroline has been in denial up until now) and they’ve shared a hot kiss, so I don’t know if I would label their relationship going to the next level as “unexpected” – although on the other hand, one of them finally verbalising their feelings to the other and then them having to deal with the fallout after being “just friends” for so long falls into this category. My predictions about this show are usually way off, so I will be the first to say that I may be overanalysing like our beloved Caroline often does.

In any case, I’ll throw out a few suggestions plus one fervent hope for what this unexpected challenge might be.

Call me an optimist, but I am hoping the challenge they have to overcome is (brief) grief over the timely and bloody death of Matt at Damon’s hands. Preferably through de-hearting.

There have been murmurs about a wild and sexy vampire from Stefan’s ripper past whipping into town and threatening Caroline’s position as student body president and all-around events overachiever. As far as I know, she won’t be introduced until school’s back in session and the characters pretend that actually take their studies quasi-seriously. “Becky” will apparently cyber stalk Caroline to get the 411 on her social cache and it has been hinted she will engage Caroline in a student politics power struggle of epic proportions. Also, Becky is by all accounts obsessed with Stefan and had a thing with him back in the day, and might view Caroline as a potential threat for the affections of Ripper Stefan if Caroline becomes his new Lexi. Stefan and Lexi getting up to sexytimes has never been made canon, but I could easily believe they had some chemistry in the early days, plus Becky might want Stefan all to herself, no baby vamp friends included.

Although Becky is unlikely to be in the premiere, the groundwork for Caroline coming to terms with what it means to be a vampire, who will never grow older and could conceivably go through senior year of high school a thousand years over and experiencing the highs and lows of high school politics over and over, might hit her when she is planning the party with Tyler. A new and unexpected challenge to their friendship is the reality that all immortal/mortal (unless werewolves are revealed to never age – get on this TVD!) couples face – that one will age and the other won’t. Elena’s 18th birthday is the perfect backdrop for Caroline to suddenly realise that she will never truly reach this milestone. All of this could colour her relationship with Becky, who sounds like she will be the unliving embodiment of what Caroline is facing as an eternal teenager.

We’ve also heard about a new vampire hunter, played by Balthazar from Supernatural, heading into town. Plus, Caroline’s father is meant to be making an appearance this season, and his stance on vampires and the supernatural is unknown, though likely to be prejudicial if his ex-wife’s line of work is anything to go by. Goodness, he probably left Mystic Falls because he is the only one in the supernatural know and with a pulse with the sense to skeddadle the hell out of there! J/K, he no doubt left because of the fallout from his divorce from Liz, but still. Why do sane humans still live in this town? Anyway, perhaps he returns home and discovers that his daughter is now a vampire.

Tyler and Caroline might be facing the heightened danger of being bb supes in this town and/or the difficulty of parents coming to terms with their non-human identities.

Now we come to the 3×02 episode description!

THE NEW ORDER — Klaus (Joseph Morgan) puts a plan in motion that will give him even more power, but even with the unwilling participation of werewolf Ray Sutton (guest star David Gallagher), things don’t go exactly as Klaus had planned. Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Alaric (Matt Davis) reluctantly go along with Elena’s (Nina Dobrev) new strategy to find Stefan (Paul Wesley), leading Damon into a dangerous fight with an unexpected enemy. Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) turns to Matt (Zach Roerig) for help as he continues to try to understand what the ghosts from his past want from him. Unaware that Caroline (Candice Accola) is in need of his help, Tyler (Michael Trevino) faces an emotional confrontation with his mother (guest star Susan Walters).

OMG you guys, a Tyler/Carol scene! This is without a doubt my favourite parental unit/child relationship on the show. Plus, I can’t wait to see Michael Trevino act the hell out of an emotional scene. It’s gonna hurt our hearts so bad, I can just feel it😉

Here’s what we know: an R&J storyline will kick off when either Liz and/or Carol does something that the other woman considers unforgivable. We’ve had hints that Carol will not only arrange to hurt Caroline, but will be directly involved and get her hands dirty.

Given that Carol will be having the confrontation with Tyler while he is unaware that Caroline is in jeopardy, I would say that Carol has probably set a trap of some kind or maybe vervained Caroline earlier, leaving her in the hands of maybe the new vampire hunter in town or maybe even Caroline’s father, depending on his stance on vampires.

Of course, it’s pretty safe to speculate either Tyler, Liz or the Salvatore Scooby Gang will work out Caroline is in trouble (I refuse to consider Matt as a saviour option because UGH DNW him being edged in as a romantic rival for Tyler again) and thwart these efforts.

I’m going to take the unorthodox approach and say that I believe that Tyler and Carol’s confrontation will begin with Carol still in the dark about Tyler being a werewolf. She will stage a kind of intervention after not only discovering that Caroline is a vampire but that her son is involved with her romantically, perhaps by running into them the morning after the TC sex that all signs point to happening in a shower of glitter and shooting stars in the premiere.

Tyler will then drop the bombshell about being a werewolf, because it really is the only thing he could say to make Carol re-consider her stance dramatically quickly – I mean, how can she be anti-supernatural creatures if her own son, who she obviously adores and vice versa, is one himself? My spec is that Carol will then admit that she has set Caroline up in a trap and together they’ll race off to save Caroline. Liz, of course, will consider this gesture too little, too late, and I believe will do something in retaliation that causes the situation to escalate. What this will be, I have no idea. I would love to hear your thoughts about any possibilities.

I really do hope it happens this way, because I find Carol to be a highly sympathetic and well drawn parental figure. I would love her to grapple with the tension of an upbringing that has taught her to fear and loathe all supernatural creatures, and her son’s status as a new werewolf. I will be invested in her journey either way because I think the actress who plays Carol is exceptional, but it will be much easier to be invested in her arc if a few bad decisions and “what if” situations create the tension, and she isn’t just straight up anti-Caroline, but someone who swings back and forth on how she feels about the supes in town. I know R&J was based on unequivocal hatred from both sets of parents for the opposing family, but I wouldn’t mind this aspect being a little less black and white, and more about miscommunications and misunderstandings that lead to even worse decisions being made.

The other alternative I’ve been thinking could happen is that Tyler/Carol have their confrontation, and Carol makes a veiled comment about Caroline that tips Tyler off that his girl is in trouble. Caroline is saved but Liz is absolutely incensed. Carol, angry about being thwarted and defied by her son, decides to call in the big guns, at least when it comes to the Forbes family… Caroline’s father.

Carol might not necessarily tell him his daughter is a vampire, which has enabled Liz to consider vamps in a different light, as she would want him to remain unsympathetic to these creatures and just cause general awkwardness for the Forbes Liz-Caroline duo, who work furiously to keep Caroline’s supe identity a secret. On the other hand, it would be interesting if Caroline’s father turns out to be similar to the Salvatores’ father, who had such a hardline stance on vampires he killed his own sons when they became what he perceived to be vamp sympathisers. Remember the scene where Liz says that Caroline is not her daughter anymore, and Damon tells her she has no idea how wrong she is? Maybe Caroline’s dad will be unflinching in his hatred for his daughter, unlike her mother, who is on the road to accepting her daughter as she now is. Carol driving a further wedge between Caroline and her father, who has already pretty much abandoned his daughter, and extinguishing the hope that father/daughter might develop a stronger relationship in the future, is likely to deepen the animosity between the Lockwood and Forbes parental units.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I am absolutely DYING to find out how Tyler will feel about his mother’s actions towards Caroline, whatever they may be. Tyler is a total mama’s boy, IMO, despite what loads of other people have said. He dropped Vicki despite liking her when his mother made her distaste vehement; his unwillingness to publicly date Vicki (I believe in large part knowing his mother would respond with immense disdain). He came back to Mystic Falls, after leaving because the pain of losing the only girl he’d ever loved drove him out of town, because his mother was in hospital. The dick/jerk scene (dirty! ) in Masquerade. Need I go on? Of course, Tyler is going to be steaming mad, but just like I hope Carol isn’t an absolute villainess, I hope that there is some ambiguity in the way he responds to his mother. Parent/child relationships interest me on this show as much as the shippy ones.

In closing, on a completely unrelated note, I am really hanging out for more Jeremy/Caroline scenes as much as Tyler/Jeremy scenes, because I really, REALLY need Jeremy to ask Caroline, “When was the last time you had sex with a puppy?” in an entirely different tone to when he posed this question to Vicki.

Also, my girl Alyssa took the liberty of using her phone to record an shortened season three premiere promo, in which we get a fraction more of Caroline mounting her unicorn. Let’s just say I rewound this one. A lot.😉

Great post. This goes without saying, but you should probably stay away from Matt sympathizers. LOL.

As for the 301 description, I think the new and unexpected thing is about their supernatural urges or whatever. I remember JP saying that it would be a new challenge. So I imagine Tyler will be feeling horny all the time and he’s obviously not gonna risk his friendship with Caroline, so he tries dating again…Caroline gets jealous cause she has feelings for Tyler…blah blah blah blah blah…sexy times ensue.

Matt is okay when not around Caroline, but I find it hard to wrap my head around Matt/Caroline shipping. I have a feeling MC shippers are more a fan of Matt than Caroline, and feel sympathetic for him and believe he deserves twu wuv. Because, honestly, the passive-aggressiveness bordering on emotional abuse and disregard for Caroline’s feelings that were his MO are not traits I would imagine a girl wanting a real life friend to have in a boyfriend… so why does Caroline deserve that treatment? *stepsoffsoapbox*

You and Alyssa are probably on the right track – the new and unexpected challenges may be their supernatural urges. I guess I’m thinking unexpected from a meta perspective, and after all these spoilers them giving into their feelings is definitely not unexpected. I’m probably overthinking, but I do think some of the themes I’ve teased out, especially with Becky acting as Caroline’s foil, will play out over the course of the season and beyond😉

Ultimately, as long as I get TC sexytimes, I am happy to be completely and totally wrong!

Have you seen the YouTube shortened promo snippet Alyssa took yet? OMG let me die!

Eh. I rather Matt was completely off the show, but I know that won’t happen since JP stans him. But I do agree that most MC fans are Matt sympathizers. “Oh but he’s so lonely and deserves the girl.” He’s painted as “the good guy”, so all of his actions are always excuse.d

Becky (or “Bex”) is supposed to show up in 303 and ehhhh. I wish they weren’t doing that storyline. Since when does an ancient vampire care about being queen of the school? If she tries anything with Tyler, I hope he sniffs her out in 2.5 seconds and tells her to get lost before he bites her on a full moon. And anything that ties Caroline to Stefan annoys me. I hate their scenes and how they try to make Tyler look stupid just to prop them up. Same crap they do with Matt.

I’m hoping that Becky is used as a foil for Caroline considering her future fate as a vampire, and what that all means. Going through high school politics is one thing, but doing it a hundred times over? Something else entirely.

Becky could also be an interesting character if she is a conduit for more information about the role Lexi played in Stefan’s getting his bloodlust under control in the past, and how Caroline could mirror this. If Becky was around during Stefan’s early Ripper days, she’s probably crossed paths with Lexi. Bex and Lex – too close to be a coincidence?

If Becky/Caroline is less about high school politics and more about Becky projected twisted issues about Lexi onto Caroline, as she is someone who could take the Ripper side of him away again, that could prove to be interesting. I would be interested to see Caroline and Becky being kind of like a good angel/bad angel dynamic for Stefan, and have Stefan’s retrieval be partly a result of friendship and not just Elena’s love. A battle of wills with someone’s humanity at stake could be an awesome opportunity for Caroline to really come into her own.

LOL, don’t even get me started on how out OOC Tyler not questioning things in Daddy Issues/Crying Wolf was. I think that smacks more of contrivance and lazy writing than anything else though. Or at least, I choose to think that way, because while Caroline/Stefan are interesting as friends and maybe reciprocal mentors, for reasons we’ve talked about before I don’t think they would be a fitting ship for Caroline.

I’m already nervous that the whole Becky/Stefan thing will take away from the Tyler/Caroline storyline. I don’t want that 213 crap ever again. I’ll quit watching. I’m not saying Tyler should be her only storyline, but I don’t want Stefan’s issues encroaching on TC’s storyline.

I too am not looking forward to the Becky storyline, but I think it coud be interesting if it delves into deeper issues, i.e. Caroline wanting to have the perfect senior year experience because she doesn’t want to think about the fact that she can have another high school experience, if that makes any sense.

I just think Caroline is trying her damndest to hold on to her humanity, and this thing with Becky may make her see that she can’t or something. I don’t know.

I must also ask (sorry for stalking your blog today LOL) why and where did you find these Matt lovers?

Although, I have to admit (and Susan will probably disown me for saying this) I’ll sometimes lurk the M/C thread on FF and then shake my head wondering how people think Matt and Caroline are cute.

They must not have been watching the same scene in 2×17 as me.

That shit was scary. Don’t ever tell me Matt isn’t or doesn’t have the personality to be an abuser. The yelling “JUST MAKE ME FORGET CAROLINE.” I mean, okay, step back, forget this is a sci-fi show and that Caroline is a vamp.

If you take that one scene, doesn’t that seem like a boyfriend who is totally controlling of his lady? It does to me. I thought he might get physical with her there.

And the thing was, he didn’t even have to do it. He didn’t need to yell at her. She “loved” him so much that all he would have to do was ask her and talk about his life being pile of shit. But instead, he decided to go that extra mile and be an asshole and basically call her a piece of unworthy crap.

I LOVE when you stalk my blog. Your comments drip with awesomeness, basically😉 I can’t wait to see your liveblogging input😉

Also, you are fantabulous for taking the time to record that promo. Made my day! Imagine what we will be like when we get the full scene. I expect dancing like there is no one watching!

I found a contingent of MC fans commenting on various threads at Vampire Diaries.net – it’s their prerogrative, but it just makes me shake my head when these girls bash another woman who is being treated like dirt. There is so much embedded sexism in society, and I wonder how many girls in real life are trapped in miserable relationships with Matts who treat them like Carolines using the justifications they have for him treating her poorly (“his life is so hard” is usually the fallback, with the girls basically ignoring that Caroline has ALWAYS treated him and his mother with respect, even when they barely offer a modicum of the same in return – all because he has the image of the Good Guy who could lead to the white picket ideal you so aptly believe Caroline wants).

If there hadn’t been many, many dealbreakers for me before, the scene where Matt demands Caroline make him forget would be it. For me, it is not just the words, but the context of their delivery. Caroline had just spilled her guts and told him EVERYTHING, like how she had been murdered to be turned into a vampire, and all of the other horrible things that had happened. For him to be unmoved by this, and Caroline describing the care she gave Tyler, because after all, he knew Tyler was a werewolf and the reason for them striking up a closer friendship, it just speaks volumes about the carboardy tool he is.

Matt’s emotional abuse is the precursor to physical abuse in a relationship IMO. I do not like how Tyler was rough with Vicki in the pilot, but I choose to just acknowledge that as pilot-itis, where the producers were still feeling out the characters. Matt’s abusive patterns have been sustained, whereas the only other time Tyler has manhandled a girl equally as roughly was Caroline, but only after he knew full well that she was a vampire and stronger than him and that therefore he couldn’t really physically hurt her (noting that Caroline has not been above using her super strength on him, but no one bats an eyelid because she’s a girl – doesn’t bother me, but if people are worked up about him pushing her against a car, what about her nearly dislocating his shoulder in the “you’re stronger than me?” scene) As Susan said, people forget that Tyler and Caroline are not your typical teen boy/teen girl, but supe/supe. The normal rules of physicality do not apply to them.

Caroline loved Matt more than he deserved from her, and for that reason I cannot wait when he gets tetchy because he sees her heart now belongs to Tyler. Writers, make him suck on this fact and never get them back together. He needs a taste of what it is like being someone’s permanent Placeholder. Or better yet, someone’s Nothing.

Hehe! In my Good Boy Woobie post, I drew parallels where Dean = Dawson = Matt and Jess = Pacey = Tyler. I’ll admit that where my hatred of Matt and Dawson is unflinching, I felt for Dean and the way Rory stomped over his heart.

But, my sympathy is mitigated by other moments of his that I don’t like, but I’ll go into that more in another post. Early CuteDean was sweet though😉

“Elena’s 18th birthday is the perfect backdrop for Caroline to suddenly realise that she will never truly reach this milestone. All of this could colour her relationship with Becky, who sounds like she will be the unliving embodiment of what Caroline is facing as an eternal teenager.”

YES!!! I really want them to at least bring this up. C’mon writers, is it too much to ask? When Caroline gave that speech to Elena in the second season about Elena never being able to do certain things if she stays with Stefan, I always thought Caroline was talking about herself, in the past versus the present. She’ll be the one who never gets older and stays “smokin’ hot” and for some reason, I don’t think Caroline is going to be okay with that. I think she did want the white picket fence dream with kids and a husband.

But I guess we’ll see.

“Alyssa, because she is a positive bunny, thinks it refers purely to Tyler/Caroline grappling with their new and confusing relationship that has just exploded out of the friendship zone.”

Hee. Yes, yes I do. And I agree with Susan about the supernatural urges. :nods:

“The other alternative I’ve been thinking could happen is that Tyler/Carol have their confrontation, and Carol makes a veiled comment about Caroline that tips Tyler off that his girl is in trouble. Caroline is saved but Liz is absolutely incensed. Carol, angry about being thwarted and defied by her son, decides to call in the big guns, at least when it comes to the Forbes family… Caroline’s father.”

I’m leaning more towards this theory.

I have two theories as well, that are similar to yours.

1) The confrontation is not about Tyler’s werewolfdom and only comes out in the aftermath. Perhaps Carol hears the post-coital bliss of Tyler and Caroline talking about how amazing their sex was and hears Caroline say something like “This was my first time doing it as a vampire,” and doesn’t stick around long enough to hear Tyler say something about being a werewolf. So, the emotional confrontation is about Tyler being with Caroline and how he cares for her and when Tyler reveals that he’s a werewolf, Carol is suddenly forced to deal with the fact that her son is a supe as well. I don’t know if we’ll necessarily see her “rescue” Caroline though, but I sincerely doubt Matt will have ANYTHING to do with her rescue. It will be Tyler. And I’m sure Liz will be pissed.

2) The confrontation IS about Tyler being a werewolf and Carol being shocked and appalled says something like “my son is a werewolf dating a vampire,” and THAT tips Tyler off to the fact that Carol has done something to Caroline, and we’ll get an “WHERE IS SHE?” response.

I think MT will act the hell out of this scene, for the simple fact that as I’ve stated, we have never seen Tyler in love before and it’s clear that he’s in love with Caroline and he will go miles for her and stick up for her against his mom, unlike with Vicky. But that was different as I don’t think Tyler was ever meant to love Vicky. They had a purely physical relationship that Tyler wasn’t willing to make emotional, whereas Tyler and Caroline have an emotional relationship that Tyler is perhaps worried to make physical, because she’s seen him at his most vulnerable and he needs that.

Nevertheless, the outcome will be the same. Carol will definitely feel defeated and call Papa Forbes, and Liz will find Carol’s attempt to hurt Caroline unforgivable, and we’ll probably see a big time fight. Maybe a “you tell your son to stay the hell away from my daughter” and “you tell your daughter to stay the hell away from my son” and the episode ends with Carol standing by Tyler and Liz with Caroline, and Caroline and Tyler giving each other this ‘now what’ look.

Yay for you getting excited about Caroline’s individual, non shippy arc! My greatest fear is that Tyler and Caroline’s individual growth will get stunted as they enter coupledom. I am a greedy TCer, I want both!😉

Oh, Caroline is definitely a romantic with old-fashioned values and perceptions of how she wanted her love life to turn out. Funny that The Notebook, her favourite movie, is about a man who loves a woman so much he goes to insane effort to draw her memories of who she is to the surface despite suffering Alzheimer’s, yet she was desperately clinging on to a relationship with a man who has such disdain for her he demanded she compel away his memories because he couldn’t stand to see what he was looking at (despite her baring her soul about everything she had gone through as a baby vamp)

Keep the positive vibes flowing, I like it! I always play Devil’s Advocate and consider other options so that all of you guys have something original to bounce off of.

I LOVE your two theories. The thought of Carol overhearing her son, who she may not have seen in new zen action quite yet as Caroline and others have seen, saying romantic things is just priceless. Also, I really, really want morning after talk about how it is different doing it with another supe than with a human (hopefully better ;)) I hope Tyler’s identity as a werewolf only comes out during the confrontation, because it would take an emotionally heightened situation and just make it explode! (not in the naked action way, too). Having said that, the thought of Tyler intensely saying, “Where is she?” is mucho panty dropping in quality, so I could handle it if it plays out like that!

MT is my favourite actor on the show, closely followed by CA. I think they both do an incredible amount with short screen time and Show Don’t Tell writing. Plus, we’ve seen the half-smile of love, imagine what the full smile will be like! Hopefully we also get excited puppy “she likes me, she really likes me” expression when Caroline gets jealous, and he is happy and finds it endearing, because who wouldn’t want Caroline crushing on them? At some point I do want the Mason thing addressed though. It is just the gnat buzzing at my ear.

Tyler and Caroline staring longingly at each other is swoonworthy, because no one does soulful eye gazing, whether eye sexing or extreme pining sadness, than these two.
I wonder how the Council and town policing will be restructured in light of the R&J conflict. Surely these women won’t be able to coexist as town leaders who need to work closely together on its safety to be successful. Mark me as curious about the fallout just in terms of the mothers too.

Oh, I’m definitely looking forward to her non-TC arc. Look, I love them together and I’ll be happily dancing around my room, praying to the Forwood Unicorn Bunnies when they get together, but the thing is I love their characters individually. If it only becomes the Caroline and Tyler show, I’ll be disappointed.

That’s partly where the show has failed in terms of Elena/Damon/Stefan.

When is Elena ever her own person? Never.

Interesting point. Caroline’s “I’m not going to be one of those girls who ignores everything just because I get a new boyfriend.” Or whatever the line was. She isn’t. Not everything has to be about her and Tyler. Even when she was with Matt, she was focused on being Miss Mystic, on fixing the damage between Elena and Bonnie, and Matt and Tyler.

I am quite interested in seeing more about how she feels about being a vampire, but I’m also interested in seeing how they’ll play out the father-daughter arc with Papa Forbes. Their relationship has been mentioned in snippets, but we don’t know anything else other than he’s gay and has a boyfriend who has a daughter and Caroline goes to see them for boyfriend’s daughter’s bday.

Is she hurt that he left? Does she have her own father issues? How will Papa Forbes react when finding out about her being a vampire? Will he too see the light or be all KILL KILL KILL. How will Caroline react to having her parents in the same town again for the first time in who knows when.

My theory regarding Caroline’s parents’ relationship is that A) Either Liz and Mr. Forbes got married because he didn’t want to let his family down, being a founding family, and he married Liz and they had Caroline, and then he decided he couldn’t play the normal straight dad role anymore.

Or B) He and Liz got married because she was preggos with Caroline.

I liked how Candice equated Caroline telling her mom to accept her as a vampire to coming out, and how that will play into Papa Forbes’ relationship with his daughter. Will she tell him that he HAD a choice and chose to leave, and she had no choice in becoming a vamp?

I am SO interested in Caroline’s relationship with her dad, only because I think a majority of her insecurities come from that.

Also, I totes want to see Tyler have a “What are your intentions” sit down with Papa Forbes. HEEE!

“don’t know about anyone else, but I am absolutely DYING to find out how Tyler will feel about his mother’s actions towards Caroline, whatever they may be. Tyler is a total mama’s boy, IMO, despite what loads of other people have said. He dropped Vicki despite liking her when his mother made her distaste vehement; his unwillingness to publicly date Vicki (I believe in large part knowing his mother would respond with immense disdain). He came back to Mystic Falls, after leaving because the pain of losing the only girl he’d ever loved drove him out of town, because his mother was in hospital”

@Susan With my Forwood one track mind, I was thinking more in terms of this being an opportunity for Caroline to shine while still engaging in TC awesomeness concurrently. Though, if it becomes All About Stefan *shudder* I say that as someone who likes Stefan! I just don’t want Caroline subsumed by another character’s storyline, but rather enhanced in her own storyline where they cross over.

You know, I think I need to write a post about 2×13 and 2×14 defending what I like about it as much as what I despite about it. Things I liked in short:

Caroline holding Tyler accountable for his actions. She doesn’t enable any of his bad actions and their relationship was shown even in fight mode to be much healthier than MC: she felt confident enough to voice her opinion strongly without fear of reprisal or that the relationship couldn’t bounce back. She fought with him the way you fight with true family/lovers, whereas with Matt there is always this sense of walking on eggshells. I liked this demonstration of how confident she is in this relationship (hence why she was shocked when he left town – I don’t think she realised HE was the insecure one in that respect).

It has the same tragedy of Romeo and Juliet without anyone actually dying. The sense of what ifs, and how different decisions or open communication channels could have meant the situation was resolved before it blew up.

Tyler actually being allowed to feel some anger about Mason unlike Caroline being robbed of her anger about Matt conspiring with her mother against her. I do agree that his perspective was given short shrift. Gender bias is always so strong in favour of men in situations like this writers probably were surprised by fandom’s reaction, as 12 mentioned, and perhaps they backpedaled on the decision to split blame equally. I mean, they backed down when Bonnie hate reached epic levels because of her anti-vampire stance, despite her final words to Stefan in season one indicating a very different path than the one she took in season two. I’m disappointed they backed out mainly because I feel like these writers need to take more risks, and sometimes just bear fandom response if it means that an alternative perspective to the Salvatores is presented. I may not agree with that perspective, but it needs to be there for balance.

Lupining!Tyler. Followed by zen, cool as cucumber Tyler upon his return, who would not have existed without having left with Jules and coming to terms with what he is. Think of him as like a season six Jess. Yes, please.

Establishment of Stefan’s anti-werewolf bias. His intimidation of Tyler, and the have versus have nots vibe between vamps and weres was interesting.

Most importantly, the sense that there is something at stake with Tyler/Caroline. This episode was gut wrenching, and showed that the writers are willing to take risks with them. With most couples on this show, the main flaw I find is that they play it safe. There is a very real sense that TC are right for each other but because of their trust issues, personality quirks and different species, could easily screw things up, and not because they are unhealthy for each other. It makes me curious to see what kind of conflicts they face in season three. I want romantic shippy stuff, but I’d be lying if I want them to be sickeningly lovey dovey all the time. I LOVED how Tyler was not above menacing Caroline with a glare in Rose, how Caroline was not above using her strength on him. I’ve liked their playful snark of each other, how Caroline has felt comfortable rolling her eyes in Tyler’s presence when he said he understood why she was staying away from Matt. That’s why the line about Tyler being horny all the time in the season three premiere makes me so excited: hopefully it is an indication that this pair will stay specific and true to what they are, rather than becoming an generic “epic” couple. I’m drawn to this couple because they are imperfect yet right for each other.

The fandom was a horrible place after 213 aired…and some people will never forgive Tyler even though Caroline was at fault too. This is where some people turned into SC fans. And where some haters will say how Tyler is “abusive” and how Caroline was “so scared” of him. *rolleyes*

I didn’t feel like Tyler got to express his anger at all. He got angry for 2 seconds and then it became all about Caroline and her captivity and how Tyler hesitated. The whole last couple of acts was basically about tearing down Tyler and propping SC’s friendship. That’s where they lost me. And that’s where I lost alot of love for Caroline. I’ve been slowly gaining some of it back, but it’ll never be the same. I feel like the fandom wants to give her a free pass for anything even though there should have been equal blame. 214 did smooth over things quite a bit, but the damage was done.😦 The whole Mason/other vampires thing was building up for episodes and episodes and Tyler is the only one who gets squashed for a one-episode incident.

I often wonder if the writers only changed their minds about Tyler and his fate because of how popular he, MT, and TC became. It could have easily gone the other way…and they could have offed him for their precious MC–> either as a villain or as an epic sacrifice scene because Tyler didn’t save Caroline the first time.

I really hope we never have to see 213!angst again. I want intelligent angst, not stupid angst where it’s all Tyler’s fault.

Also, Stefan pissed me off in that episode. He was preaching “understanding” and “unity”, but he was such a jerk about it. They should have told Tyler what was going on. If they did, most of this stuff wouldn’t have happened.

I wasn’t upset that people had a bad reaction to Tyler so much as the evident hypocrisy in people’s reactions as compared with other characters. When Damon snapped Jeremy’s neck, I was all for discussing the reasons why he did what he did, but it disappointed me that people were so quick to say Tyler was “dead to them” and didn’t give him the same consideration they did Damon. Do people not see the schism between a hesitation that could have counted as a form of manslaughter versus murder? Caroline’s betrayal is no less a justification for bad actions than Damon’s lady loves not returning his favour. This is not to diminish Damon’s complexity, but rather an expression of resentment that many people are so quick to reduce Tyler to “abusive” and not give him the benefit of the doubt Damon receives. Or, as you have explained, for that matter, that Caroline receives from some parties.
I love Caroline, but I want her to remain accountable for her actions too. If the writers don’t revisit the Mason plotline and have her at least apologise for her complicity, they have undervalued episodes of build up in the TC arc. I agree with you that the writers probably backed away from their original TC arc for the final half of season two due to fan response, and in some ways I’m glad that Forwood could make up with self-reflection. On the other hand, it feels like wasted potential. Perhaps they should have given Tyler a couple of episodes to be mad/have heated discussions with Caroline before she ended up in captivity, or had him come back sooner and had them be tentative around each other for much longer?

In some ways, I’ve partly fallen so hard for Tyler BECAUSE of fan reaction, since I love playing Devil’s Advocate. In like we have to do the heavy lifting when it comes to forgiving him; there are few writing signposts guiding us on how to feel. Defending him is an interesting exercise, because he doesn’t have the same good will in a lot of people to burn through. I just wish people could have a little perspective about things. I mean, if you had just discovered your uncle had been killed, and one of his murderers was intimidating you in your house despite the Martin Luther King of werewolves and vampires speech, how would you react? I wish people could separate fan worship from actual earth logic. If Tyler is an ass to Caroline this season, I will call him on it. I expect the same from people on their own characters. Like my girl Julie from TV Recappers Anonymous, acknowledging the awfulness of Damon force feeding Elena and understanding the reasons why he did what he did without justifying it.

I’m not sure if Tyler would have been killed in an epic sacrifice, only because of meta reasons like TC having their own theme song. I just see stuff like that as the marks of a long term ship. I do think that they would have explored more about why Tyler deserved to feel betrayed immediately after her returned. The writers have to be careful with Caroline – she is eminently likeable, but part of this is because the writers have tended NOT to give her free passes. I just don’t want to go too far in the direction of fluff and light. TC have a unique tang because they get things wrong, they say the wrong thing, they are open and honest and flawed with each other. DNW whitewashing and a perfect couple whose only conflict is from outside sources like the R&J influence of their parents. One way to do this obviously would be to talk about their trust issues and what they regret in the lead up to Daddy Issues. Would that make you feel warmer to Caroline, if she acknowledged fault in that situation?
Tyler’s anger was definitely not played out as much as I think the writers may have intended originally, but at least he got to feel it. Caroline not telling Matt to DIAF during their break up bugs me to this day. Please God let her get stuck into Matt during their bad encounter at the party!

Final word: I think Stefan was MEANT to come across as a jerk, that his actions towards Tyler were intended to convey a different stance than what his words said. I mean, he didn’t even want to try to mend things with Tyler until prompted to by Caroline! It’s just that Tyler/Caroline’s arc is Show Not Tell. The writers were relying on people to analyse the scene and see that “Hmm, Stefan is being a prejudicial fuckwit, maybe Tyler’s reaction has a point”, but those who only see Tell Not Show, focussed only on the cuteness of him arranging a sleepover party for Caroline. I am not saying that we should ignore his sweet gestures in this episode, just that it irks me that the slumber party thing cancelled out his actions towards Tyler. People who label Tyler “abusive” after that ep are IMO selectively filtering what they want to take from that episode. I take my hat off to Stefan/Caroline shippers who also acknowledge Stefan’s treatment of Tyler in that episode, and ship in spite of Stefan treating Caroline as a vervaine vehicle in season one among other things. Just like while my sympathies lie with Forwood obvs, if they need to be called on their shit, I will call them on it.

Yup, I am going to do a retrospective on that episode. Sorry for such a long response but I’ve had these thoughts building up for a while!

Oh I detest vd.net. I used to love going there, but the site runners are such biased mean girls. I know MC has a small pocket of fans and they don’t really hang out on Fanforum, so I’m guessing they go there instead.

I cannot wait to see MT act an emotional scene with Mom Lockwood about Caroline. I can just feel the tension when he shouts ‘WHERE IS SHE?!’ and his mother trying to make him ‘see’ that Caroline isn’t what he thinks she is though he really is the only one who totally gets who she is.

I absolutely loved Damon’s scene where he tells liz she couldn’t be more wrong about Caroline. It was heartbreaking and beautiful. And it would be great if maybe Tyler said something likewise to Matt or Caroline’s dad or maybe even Caroline to Carol.

What if the argument isn’t about Caroline being a vampire, but about Tyler being a werewolf? Imagine Carol finding Mason’s journal or overhearing Tyler in a phone convo with Caroline innocently dropping the big Werewolfbomb on an easedropping (did I write that right?) Mother Lockwood. I wouldn’t like this all that much, I prefer an argument over Caroline where Tyler is again left with explaining what they are to a third party. Because even though it’d be amazing to see the Lockwood Duo act the crap out of such an emotional ‘is it true? But how..’ scene, it wouldn’t really lead into the R&J storyline they want. Unless Tyler spills the beans on Caroline’s vampness, triggering Carol to ‘get’ why the vampire hunter was interested or why Care’s dad was back in town. I don’t know. I’m hoping it’s one of your much better explained theories!

I’m so done with analysing now, can we just have the third season already? Our fandom is going crazy over half a second of videomaterial and episode summaries, I can’t wait to see what an actual episode will trigger.

Maybe our very own unicorn parade? I’ll get the glitter machines and music installation if you make sure we have the forwood footage and our ‘we heart babysupesex’-tshirts.

Tyler and Mom Lockwood are my favourite parental unit/child pairing, so an emotional scene between the two is just gonna rock my socks off, and every other Forwooders’ socks too I think!

I’m loving that Tyler will face a real conflict between two women he cares about in different ways. The ragged way he said to Caroline “I trusted you!” gets me every time, so if the scene with his mother involves him saying something in a similar way, I just might faint from the tension.

The thing is, Tyler won’t just be defending Caroline, but he’ll also be defending the fact that he is someone different now too, as a werewolf. An aspect of the confrontation is likely to be him trying to get his mother to accept him as well.

It will be definitely interesting to see how accepting Carol ends up being of his supernatural status, considering that her love of her son needs to remain intact for the R&J storyline to work. I could see her being in a similar position to Liz though. Finding it hard to accept what Tyler is, but being unwilling to go through with hurting him and keeping his identity a secret from the Council because he is her son.

Gah! Season three just needs to start right now! I love how all of our theories grow ever more elaborate, the longer we have to wait for actual damn canon scenes and episodes.